Improvement in keys for pianos, organs



MI. PRATT.

' KEYS'FOP, PIANOS, ORGANS, m. No.174,003. Patented Feb. 22, 1876.

nilhesses.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

MILON PRATT, 0F DEEP RIVER, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO PRATT, READ & CO., OF SAME PLACE.

IMPROVEMENT IN KEYS FOR PIANOS, ORGANS, &c.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 174,003, dated February 22,1876; application filed August 9, 1875.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that 1, MILON PRATT, of Deep River, in the county of Middlesex and State of Connecticut, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Keys for Piano-Fortes, Organs, and other Musical Instruments; and 1 do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawing, which forms part of this specification.

This invention relates to keys for pianofortes, organs, and other musical instruments, having their appearance enriched or improved by a molding at their front ends formed by the ivory or other. suitable veneer. The object of this invention is to give a bold molding or prominent ornamental finish to the front end of the key with but a very thin veneer, and at the same time to obtain a firm attachment of said molding to the key, together with great facility of construction, thus producing a handsome and durable but cheap key. To these ends, the invention consists in akey provided upon its vertical or end face with a molding composed of an ivory or other veneer and a molded backingpiece, of wood or other suitable material, as hereinafter described.

Figure 1 in the drawing represents a view in perspective of a key for musical instruments constructed in accordance with my invention Fig. 2, a vertical longitudinal section of the forward portion of the same; Fig. 3, a vertical section of the veneer used on the front end of the key; Fig. 4, a vertical section of the backing to which the front veneer is designed to be applied; and Fig. 5, a view in perspective of a veneered molded backing-strip, in illustration of the mode of constructing my invention.

A is the white key of a piano-forte or other musical instrument, having its top or face veneer 12 extended to overlap the front end of the key. The molding on the front end of the key is composed, in part, of a molded backing, d, of any suitable profile in its vertical section, and a thin veneer of ivory, g, although any other suitable veneering material may be used.

This ivory veneer, which has the same profile as the backing, is applied to the latter by first softening and bending a thin strip of the ivory in molds, and allowing it to harden, and afterward securing said molded strip of veneer to the backing d, which is also in the form of a strip, as shown in Fig. 5. The backed veneer thus produced is then glued either to the front ends of a set of keys held together in a frame, and said veneer afterward out between the keys, or it may be first cut into lengths corresponding with the widths of the front ends ofthe keys, and such detached lengths afterward and separately glued onto the front ends of the keys. The backing cl it is proposed to make of wood, with its fibers running in direction of the length or height. of the molding, and whereby a'more perfect adhesion of the ivory veneer may be obtained than if said veneer were directly applied to the forward end of the wooden body of the key, owing to the latter having an end-grain presentation. The thinness of the veneer on the forward end of the key, or, rather, face of the backing, makest-he cost of the molding but trifling, even when the veneer is ivory.

I claim- The white key of a key-board instrument provided, upon its vertical or end face, with a molding composed of an ivory or other veneer, g, and a backing-piece, d, substantially as and for the purpose herein set forth.

MILON PRATT.

Witnesses GIDEoN PARKER,

BELLE F. PARKER. 

